New BPA-free Closer to Nature

Closer to Nature is the only infant feeding range to radically change the way mothers feed their babies.

In three years since launch, the distinctively wide bottle with the unique flex and stretch teat has enabled millions of mothers to successfully combine breast and bottle feeding where in the past they would have simply given up breastfeeding.

The range’s success has been universally recognised, by mothers, health professionals and parenting magazines. Just a few weeks ago the Closer to Nature bottle was awarded the prestigious Mother and Baby gold award for Best Bottle for the second time.

So how can we top that?

By giving Closer to Nature a its own top billing in dramatic new packaging. And by making the move to a BPA-free material for the total reassurance on which Tommee Tippee has built its enviable reputation.

From February 2009 all Closer to Nature bottles will be available in a new material, entirely free from the controversial Bisphenol A chemical. This applies to 150ml, 260ml and the new 340ml sizes.

The bottles are identical in shape, carry a new embossed Tommee Tippee logo and graduations and are softer to the touch than their polycarbonate predecessors.

But what has not changed is the magical Closer to Nature teat, the only teat that moves at 360 degrees to flex and stretch in exactly the same way as a nipple does during breastfeeding.

This means that babies can move from breast to bottle and crucially back to the breast again without any confusion or upset.

Hundreds of mums have written to Tommee Tippee or contributed to website forums to highlight the benefits of the Closer to Nature system.

They have said repeatedly that Closer to Nature has been a godsend, allowing them to give expressed breast milk to their babies and then resume breast feeding without the slightest problem.

And health professionals and midwives have also acknowledged that the ‘lovely soft teat’ has helped even premature babies to have breast milk when it might not otherwise be possible.

Martin Cooke, Head of Marketing at Tommee Tippee, said: ‘We all accept that breastfeeding is best for babies but we also believe that breast milk is best for babies, whether it comes directly from the breast or is ‘delivered’ via our breast pump into a bottle which can then be offered to the baby.

‘Because the Closer to Nature range is so broad, and includes breast pump, sterilisers, bottle accessories and teats in five different flow rates, mothers are able to use it from birth, moving from breast to bottle and back again with ease, thus ensuring she can extend the time she breastfeeds, often by many months.

‘It also gives her the freedom to go back to work or to go out and leave her baby with another carer without the trauma very often associated with moving from breast to bottle.’

The move from polycarbonate to a BPA free material comes in response to a worldwide call for an end to the use of bisphenol A where babies were involved. While no sound evidence on the harmful effects of bisphenol A has ever been presented or proved, Tommee Tippee decided that parents need total reassurance where children are concerned.

‘As a responsible and trusted company which has played a major part in bringing up millions of babies in our proud 50 year history, we decided that future generations needed the total reassurance that the change over would bring,’ said Mr Cooke.

The BPA free bottles will be on sale from February 2009 in both the UK and international markets. Dramatic silver and black packaging and a new Tommee Tippee ‘star’ logo will showcase the new range.